In the field of sports training, it is known to equip a goal net with a training device that partially fills up on the open space of the net to allow an offensive player to work on improvement of their shooting accuracy by aiming for the small areas left unobstructed by the devices. Examples of such devices can be found in Canadian Patent Applications CA1227818 and CA2897759, published U.S. Patent Applications US20070265115, US20090181810, US20140045628, and US20140302949, and granted U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,940, U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,257, U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,404, U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,538, U.S. Pat. No. 7,811,184 and U.S. Pat. No. 9,433,841.
The device in the forgoing references are of two-dimensional structure, and therefore don't protrude into the crease area of the goal net, and therefore don't create an accurate simulation of a three-dimensional goaltender that the user would face in a real-life game situation. U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,228 discloses a training device in the form of a dual-panel structure hung in the goal space from an upper crossbar of the goal net, thus providing a degree of three-dimensional depth, as the two panels converge outwardly from the goal. However, the purpose of the panel is to give surfaces for blocked shots to rebound off of so that the shooter can practice their rebound skills. Accordingly, rather than doing a good job of simulating actual game conditions by accurately approximating all or part of an actual goalie's body and equipment, each panel is of a non-descript generally rectangular shape obstructing a substantial majority of a respective half of the goal net, thereby helping ensure that a first shot will hit the device and deflect therefrom to provide the practicing player with rebound opportunity.
Breakaway skills are a valuable asset in sports such as hockey, particularly in cases where games are being decided by breakaway-style shootout competitions. However, having a real goalie in net for the duration of breakaway practice sections would be tiring, and potentially harmful to the goalie. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a device that presents a three-dimensional dimension goalie surrogate particularly suited to simulate breakaway scenarios.